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jumping about the front...

while watching videos on youtube I see loads where in doubles the player in the front covers his whole territory quite often by jumping. I mean, when the birdie comes high over the net I tend to leave it for the player behind me, but in these videos the front player jumps either upwards or backwards or sideways and smashes a return. Is there any special technique for doing so? When i'm standing and half crouching, i find it hard to take off, maybe my stance is wrong?????

its about keeping the opposition under pressure. whenever you get a chance, smack it down. if its really high enough leave it for your partner to smash. and the guy in the front must always be alert. i.e., to finish off the rally and gain the point whenever possible.

Stand at the centre with your legs wide apart. Then, when you move to the left take a small lob and then the next step should be with the racquet foot forward. Also try stretching your legs to reach the sidelines. Same thing for right side also. Racquet foot forward.

Then another thing to know is, try not to lift the shuttle. Intercept it early or try dribbling the shuttle as close to the net, so the opponent will be forced to LIFT and hence your partner can smash it down.

In doubles, role of the guy at the front is to create an OPENING / OPPORTUNITY for your partner to smash. To do that, you have to PUSH , DRIVE , DRIBBLE, or DROP the shuttle back, leaving the opponent with no other option than to LIFT.

Once your team gains the attack, one guy stands in the rear court, one guy in the front.
Anything that goes high up will get smashed by your partner, anything such as a small lift to the front court has to be finished by you.

1) When your partner smashes from the rear court, go forward and stay near the net.

Reason : When you go forward, your opponent wouldnt dare to play a net shot, coz they know you are there to hammer it down. So mostly, they'll LIFT it, making it a "Sweet Banana" for your partner to smash.

2) When your partner drops the shuttle from a rear court, you have to go forward expecting a DRIBBLE from your opponent. Try to TAP the return from your opponent. If not dribble back.

3) When your partner LIFTs a ball, regardless from any court, move to your respective sides.

Reason : When you lift, you were playing a defensive game and that creates an opening for your opponent to start attacking. So its wise for you to cover YOUR half court and him to cover HIS half court.

Now, if the opponents are really good, they'll smash at the CENTRE LINE, or the CENTRE between You and your partner.

Reason : When they smash , or drop exactly at the centre of you and your partner, you will be confused about "whose ball was it ? " . So either you both end up taking the same ball and having a clash, or you both will leave it . In that case, leave it to the guy with the forehand.

And you could do the same thing back too. When attacking, attack the dead centre.

Now keeping those 3 points in mind, look at some youtube videos. You could see that this is how they play doubles. This is how their coordination goes so perfect.

my advice, and sound like you don't really have enough time to react to the birds. First thing it's the position where you stand. You don't want to stand right where the serve line, or which mean too close to the net.
From the serve line take a step back. Why? What happen when your opponent drop? well when are you at that position? Attack mode, which mean your opponent going to be side side, let say your partner smash, your opponent gonna drop it over. If a decent player he should able to reach to the drop with in a step or 1.5, and DROP shots from return smash should go slower than your reaction. Unless you're really slow.
And if your opponent drive back the smash shot, there are a lil more distance for you to react rather than just let it go.
And yes whenever, your opponent make a mistake some what short clear or like return the smash but hit the frame, which the bird go slow and just a little high for you to reach, try to jump and smash it. Less time for them to return.
And yea the key thing is be ready, racquet up, don't bend down too low, just stand and bend your need and back a little.